Apples cropped: Weather leads to unpredictable harvest

Wednesday

Aug 22, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By OLIVER JENKINSojenkins@fosters.com

FARMINGTON — Erratic spring weather is largely to blame for this year's unpredictable apple harvest — a phenomenon that has put some growers ahead of schedule while others have reported coming up close to empty-handed.

"This is attributable to the unusually warm temperatures we had in March, followed by more than one occasion of freezing temperatures," explained Kelly McAdam, a food and agriculture specialist at the University of New Hampshire. "Those warm temperatures initiated flower buds to develop and once the cold temperatures followed, killed those flower buds."

"Some fruit orchards were less affected than others with the temperature fluctuations," said Nada Haddad, also a food and agriculture specialist at UNH.

Giff Burnap, owner and manager of Butternut Farms in Farmington, is one such grower who reports being unharmed by this spring's odd weather.

"Mother Nature has put us ahead of schedule," said Burnap. "We're two weeks ahead, apples are currently ripe and ready for picking."

Burnap, who's in his eighth season as the owner of Butternut Farms, explained every year is different in terms of the apple picking season. However, he expressed optimism with this year's crop.

"Last year we had a bigger apple crop, but hail damage ruined a large percentage of our apples," he said. "This year we have a smaller, but much nicer crop."

Although some farmers have been hurt by these erratic temperatures, Burnap said it may have slowed his crop a bit — but didn't do too much damage.

Along with 14 varieties of apples, some of which are ready for picking now, Butternut Farms also features blueberries, peaches, plums, nectarines, and strawberries — all of which he said look to be very ripe and healthy this year.

States such as Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania really got hurt by the frost, Burnap explained. New England, by his accounts, got much luckier. But because supply levels will be down from these other regions, expect apple prices to be more expensive at local supermarkets.

Julian Russell/Democrat Photos

"Apples could be 50% more expensive as a result," Burnap said. "There's just no way we can predict what Mother Nature is going to bring each year."

Butternut Farms features roughly 3,000 apple trees which sit on 20 acres of land designated for various fruits. When weather conditions are ideal, Burnap said the place can get very busy.

"We can get around 700 cars per day on a sunny weekend in September," he said. "It's a fun experience for families."

This is in contrast to Gary Kufnierz, owner of Vickery Orchard Apples in Rochester, who reports a much different outlook.

According to Kufnierz, the odd spring weather has all but destroyed the apple season for his orchard. "We currently don't have any apples," he said. "Maybe around 10% of what we normally have."

As expected, Kufnierz blames this poor statistic on warm temperatures that initiated growth, followed by cold days that killed blossoms. "Normally those flower buds are developing gradually as temperatures are slowly warming at a normal time," reiterated McAdam.

Height elevations and air circulation are other factors to consider. "Fruit trees that are located at higher elevations were less apt to this kind of injury we saw this spring," said McAdams. "The reason for this is that cold air is heavier than warm air and settles down to lower elevations."

The apple season normally ends around late October. While apple picking has currently been under way for close to two weeks now, additional varieties of apples will continue to ripen as the season progresses.

"Let's all enjoy these local apples with family and friends for the next few months they're around," said Haddad.